Gary Setchell’s Bedford Town experienced the highs and the lows of the Southern League Premier Central in the past few days, with a win and a loss to supplement their opening day draw at Stratford.
a 3-2 win against Barwell in front of a delighted Eyrie crowd on Saturday was drowned out by a 3-1 defeat against an impressive Kings Langley side last night as Bedford Town find themselves in 7th place after a manic start to the season.
Connor Tomlinson opened his account for the season after a quarter of an hour on Saturday as he slotted home Tyrone Lewthwaite’s cross, before Lewthwaite scored his first competitive goal for the club to give Town a 2-0 lead against Barwell.
Their two goal lead was short lived as Max Brogan pulled one back for the visitors a few minutes later and despite some stoic defending from the Eagles, Barwell found parity deep into the second half.
Brady Hickey was Barwell’s goal scorer after 75 minutes but it was Bedford who would go on to get the winner as Tomlinson chased on to a long ball from Alex Street to place home a winner to give Setchell’s side a first win of the season.
Heated affair as Kings Langley take the spoils
Such is the nature of non-league football, the fixtures come thick and fast; Bedford Town having little time to recover as they travelled to highly fancied Kings Langley on Monday night.
Alexander Lafleur’s early goal for Langley set the tone for a difficult night for the Eagles and despite some chances for Tomlinson and Sam Granville, the hosts looked good value for their lead.
Bedford Town were given a lifeline ten minutes into the second half however as Ryan Case was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Joe Butterworth.
They couldn’t make their advantage count though, with Lewthwaite spurning a great chance before Kings Langley doubled their lead via substitute Cain Keller.
Hugh Alban-Jones managed to get a goal back to set up a tantalising finish at the Orbital Fasteners Stadium, but a second goal for Keller killed the tie in the final minute.
The misery was compounded in injury time as Kai Phelan was sent off for Bedford Town for a second bookable offence as the Eagles left Hertfordshire empty-handed.
The two results leave Bedford Town in 7th in the league while Kings Langley, who many fancy to be challenging towards the higher echelons of the division, take an early lead with seven points from nine.
Seventh heaven for Real Bedford
There were no such troubles for newly-named Real Bedford however as they stamped their authority on Spartans South Midlands Division One; smashing seven past Buckingham Athletic on Saturday afternoon.
Rob Sinclair’s team now sit atop the division after a ruthless display, but they did fall behind at Buckingham with Rory Busby opening the scoring for the hosts.
It was all downhill from there however, as Athletic wilted in the heat and Real took full advantage.
Kevin Owusu scored the equaliser on the half-hour mark, with Dan Walker scoring from the penalty spot moments later before the impressive Jordan Brown made it three before the break.
3-1 at half-time soon became 6-1 as Rob Ducket made it on to the scoresheet before Walker scored his second of the match, giving him four goals in two games.
Jordan Brown also got a deserved second, and with only 50 minutes on the clock, it looked as if double figures may be on the cards.
To their credit, Buckingham held out until the 81st minute, but Owusu smashed home his second of the game to give Real Bedford a commanding 7-1 win.
They hope to continue their 100% start to the season as they travel to Burton Park Wanderers on Saturday.
